Mighty Mule Single Swing Medium-Duty Smart Capable Gate Opener for Gates Up to 16 ft. L or 550 lb.

This gate works great and is easy to install once you know what you need to do. The instructions skip some key steps to get the gate to properly open/close. You must have two power sources, the battery and the solar OR run a line you can plug in. Even if you have a fully charged battery the gate will not open. The circuit loop needs to be complete. You'll need this set up before you attach the arm to the gate because the motor has to extend the arm out, don't do it by hand. Also, the instructions for how to set the gate arm is incorrect. You must press and hold until you hear a beep to set the gate. The instruction say press and release. Press and hold is also the previous step, so hold and release are intentional, incorrect wording. If we have to do another gate, it would be really quick, so I would buy this again.

Ok, so let's start with how much you will be spending on a gate and opener. Buying a 6X6 post, gate, Marine Deep Cycle battery, solar panel, and two remotes - you will be spending a chunk of money. So, if you were smart you would do some research on the product that you will need for a gate opener. Well, I am here to tell you to NOT BUY this product - and here is why. The gate opener is nothing more than a computer board, a "worm screw motor" and a limit switch. Out of all the parts, the limit switch is most likely to wear out first. Understand, this is not new technology, as it is the exact same that the LARGE satellite dishes used to move the dish. So lets look at the product and the quality. The limit switch is a small "toggle switch that tells the worm screw to stop when the gate is fully open. It is a $3 part. However, the way the Mighty Mule is designed, when this switch goes bad - you will be spending Hours trying to fix it - as Mighty Mule does not sell the "plug and play part" to replace the switch. The limit switch is supper cheap and rides on the screw part of the worm gear. It will be surprising if it lasts a year - ask me how I know. When the switch gets wore out or binded up, it will fail. The cheap part will not be available online or from Mighty Mule and you are going to have to Jerry Rig it to work. Yes, your purchase will be worthless without this part. My limit switch failed after one year. I took the part number and searched the internet - no luck. I went to Mighty Mule and it's sister company - no luck. I had to find a replacement on the internet- that matched up the with the existing size, drill out the old screws, attach it to the existing mount (good luck with that part) then attach the wires and reprogram the unit (numerous times) to get it to work. Most people today do not have the mind set to fix the #$%# part and will go buy another gate opener. This is why I suggest you look at other gate openers online and pass on buying this one. This unit is the perfect example of "PLANNED OBSOLENCE" . Not good quality and you will not be able to buy the "plug and play" part to fix it.